This invention relates to optical communication devices and, in particular, to an integrated optical transceiver array.
Optical fibers used in communication applications are typically configured as a ribbon cable containing a linear array of optical fibers. When an optical fiber ribbon cable is terminated at a transceiver assembly, for example, upstream signals are transmitted from the optical fibers to photodetectors, and downstream signals produced by laser signal devices are transmitted from the laser devices to the optical fibers. The signal path in a conventional transceiver geometry usually requires a fan-out of the signal paths from the optical fiber ribbon cable to the transceivers with the result that the supporting structure for the transceivers is physically wider than the optical fiber ribbon cable. This limits the number of optical fiber cables which can be brought into a communication switching device, for example.
What is needed is a system for providing smaller transceiver geometry for increasing the number of communication links which can be brought into a central communication facility.
The present invention provides an integrated optical transceiver assembly for mating with optical fibers terminating in a connector. The optical transceiver assembly includes an adapter for mating with the optical fiber connector, a plurality of optical signal sources for providing downstream signals and a plurality of photodetectors for detecting upstream signals. An optical module is disposed between the optical signal sources and the photodetectors, where the optical module couples the downstream signals to the optical fibers and the upstream signals to the photodetectors. The optical module includes a surface transmissive to either one of the downstream and upstream signals, and substantially reflective to the other of the downstream and upstream signals, diffractive regions for deflecting the downstream signals into the optical fibers and the upstream signals into the optical module. The optical module also includes diffractive regions for deflecting the downstream signals from the optical signal sources into the optical module and the upstream signals into the photodetectors. Additionally, the optical module includes an array of lenses for imaging the downstream signals into the optical module and into the optical fibers, and for imaging the upstream signals into the optical module and into the photodetectors.